The Soweto Township is not a war zone, or natural disaster, but does have over a million residents living in poverty and shanty housing. Unemployment currently runs at 85% and there is a reported 50% H.I.V. infection. However a vast majority of the people show hope and strive to improve their surroundings. There are a number of projects attempting to help with this process, one being the Kliptown Youth Project, which was established in 2007. Over the past few months plans have been ongoing to assist them with their First Aid needs, since they have very little and are desperate to be able to look after themselves.
In June, 2018, I attended the KYP and gave them a practical based course in First Aid, all of them passing with flying colours. This was supported by the presentation of a large number of first aid kits for the centre, and it's trained staff.
There are to be two further phases of this project,the first being the setting up of a medical facility for the first aid needs, and aftercare for those who need it. This would also be a valuable space for Community Nurses to use, in the event of a large scale medical illness. To enable this we intend to take a Doctor and Nurse to Soweto to help in this becoming operational. This would be supported with further first aid courses, and provision of more technical equipment to help with life threatening conditions.
The final phase would be the flying over of a senior instructor to teach instructor courses, to allow them to train themselves. Everyone at the Kliptown Youth Project all say the same thing; they do not want to be just given things but want to learn how to do it themselves. Hopefully this project will allow them to do exactly that, and with such a small investment could be a true life changer.
Any funds not used in the development of the medical facilities will go towards sponsoring children's education at the Kliptown Youth Project. At a cost of £450 per child, which funds schooling, uniform and food it is hoped we will be able to help quite a few towards entrance in a College.